Cops tap psychic to solve lawyer’s slay

In this police investigation, every bit of information is welcome — even from psychics.

To facilitate the investigation into the recent murder of Assistant Solicitor General Nestor Ballacillo and his son, Benedict, in Parañaque City, police said they will allow a psychic to lend his expertise to investigators working on the case.

Southern Police District (SPD) director Chief Superintendent Roberto Rosales said there is no harm in consulting a psychic, who may be able to "see" significant details that match data and evidence already gathered by police investigators.

Rosales said these experts in the field of clairvoyance may be able to find clues or leads that may be useful.

He said he came up with the idea after a friend suggested that he consult a psychic on the matter. Rosales also said his friend claimed to personally know a psychic who reportedly has established credibility.

Rosales said the idea of getting a psychic to aid in the Ballacillo case was reinforced by his habit of watching crime shows on cable television in which the Califiornia Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are portrayed as agencies that seek the help of psychics in solving murders and other criminal cases.

"There is no harm in trying. If it shows that the findings of the psychic correspond with the results of the investigation being conducted by policemen, then that is good news," Rosales said.

Despite this, Rosales also clarified that he still prefers to have the Ballacillo slay probe conducted by police investigators.

President Arroyo had ordered the release of a P1-million reward to anyone who can provide vital information that will help solve the Ballacillo murders.

The Palace bounty was added to the P200,000 reward raised by the SPD.

Rosales expressed hope that the reward would help encourage witnesses to come forward and cooperate with the police.

He said they are still gathering evidence, which they are sharing with agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), the investigating arm of the Philippine National Police (PNP).

Ballacillo and his son were waiting for a ride along Hernandez Avenue in Barangay San Antonio when the gunmen shot them at close range a week ago. They were set to go to Subic, where Ballacillo was scheduled to attend a conference.

The elder Ballacillo was one of the OSG lawyers handling the long-running dispute over the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3. He has been arguing the government’s case in a legal battle over the terminal built by a consortium of Fraport AG and its

Filipino partners in the Philippine International Air Terminals Co. (Piatco) consortium.

The elder Ballacillo is the second official linked to the Piatco case to be killed almost a year after Pasay City Regional Trial Court Judge Henrick Gingoyon who previously handled the case involving Piatco, was shot dead in Cavite Dec. 31 last year.

Meanwhile, Solicitor General Antonio Eduardo Nachura urged the Philippine National Police (PNP) and other law enforcement agencies to speed up the investigation and arrest of the gunmen behind the Ballacillo killings.

"The police are pursuing every angle and every lead. We coordinate. It is almost in a daily basis that we talk to them," Nachura said. "Hopefully, we will have real leads this Christmas. It will be a good Christmas gift for the family."

Nachura was interviewed by journalists as he emerged from the public hearing of the Senate committees on justice and human rights, civil service and government reorganization and finance.

Three Senate committees are hearing at least five resolutions that call for the "strengthening the Office of the Solicitor General by expanding and streamlining its bureaucracy, upgrading employee skills and augmenting the benefits and appropriating funds for it."

Nachura did not discount the possibility that the Ballacillo killings were job-related: "It could be case related. And it can be related to any of the cases like Piatco, the Milk Code and other equally sensitive cases that he was handling. He handled many cases."

Nachura described Ballacillo as a very straight and kind-hearted man. "He was a very good kid, he was a very good assistant solicitor general," he said.

Prior to the murder, Nachura said the elder Ballacillo had received death threats but may not have taken them seriously. The elder Ballacillo’s colleagues apparently learned about the threats only after the killings, Nachura said: "That is the problem. Now it’s turning out that he did get threats. He was a lawyer and this was just work to him."

Nachura expressed confidence that the perpetrators of the Ballacillo killings will be identified soon, now that the President has released reward money. "We are thankful that the President has released P1 million for the reward," he added.

One of the gunmen shot the elder Ballacillo in the head, killing him on the spot and blowing away much of his face and head. The gunman shot him again in the body, apparently to finish him off.

Seeing that his father was shot, Benedict punched the gunman, who shot Benedict in the chin.

Before fleeing on board a passing jeepney, the assailants took the elder Ballacillo’s briefcase and other personal effects.

As this developed, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. condemned the killings and spoke about speculations that the Ballacillo killings may have been motivated by the elder Ballacillo’s persistence in unearthing alleged irregularities behind the construction of the NAIA Terminal 3.

Pimentel said government investigators should focus on the Piatco deal despite the frustration of the victims’ family and the public over the lack of progress in the police investigation of the killings.

"There are theories that say that Assistant Solicitor General Ballacillo was killed because he was assigned to track down the anomalous circumstances that seem to shroud the building of the NAIA Terminal 3," Pimentel said in a privilege speech at the Senate.

Ballacillo was the counsel of the government in the arbitration cases filed by the contractor Piatco and Fraport AG before the International Chamber of Commerce in Singapore and with the International Center for the Settlement of Industrial Disputes in Washington DC.

At the time of his death, he was also representing the government in the Piatco-NAIA 3 case before a Pasay City RTC, which is in the process of determining the just and fair compensation that the builder of the air terminal should be paid.

Pimentel recalled that Gingoyon was killed several months ago after ruling in favor of the government’s expropriation of the modern aviation terminal.

He said the government investigators should also look into the possible involvement of drug traffickers in the double-murder case, adding that he had received information that the elder Ballacillo was assigned to investigate some drug cases involving powerful people in government.

"No matter what the motive was (for) the killings of the assistant solicitor general and his son, we condemn their murders and call on the investigative agencies of government to act swiftly — to look for, arrest, prosecute and punish the gunmen and the mastermind or

masterminds who were responsible for the utterly shocking crime," he said.

Pimentel called on the NBI and the PNP to cooperate and double their efforts to arrest the perpetrators of the Ballacillo murders: "He did his job, they tell me unanimously, with unwavering courage, nationalistic passion and praiseworthy competence. His efforts as an assistant solicitor general had reportedly won billions of pesos for the country." — With Christina Mendez